[Traditional Enneagram] If all Ennea types are imbalances, should they be eliminated?

[Bardsandwarriors]

If all Ennea types are imbalances in life, rooted in the 7 deadly sins...

Is it because we all have different situations in life, and so they should be respected and made "healthier"?

-- or --

Is it because they are bad responses to life, and should be reduced or eliminated, and replaced by better responses? For example, if you are a strong 4, should you aim to be a weaker 4?

Your varied responses much appreciated. I might argue as devil's advocate on any thesis given

 

[Totenkindly]

For a good start, you could read Riso & Hudson's works on enneagram, since they addressed this via directions of integration/disintegration. Typically, each enneagram does have a common vice, but it's accompanied by strengths and usually the vice occurs because is relying solely on one's type out of desire for safety/comfort. So integrating to other points in the diagram (depending on one's type) helps one expand oneself and provides the needed structure and strength to use one's natural bent wisely.

 

[Bardsandwarriors]

For a good start, you could read Riso & Hudson's works on enneagram, since they addressed this via directions of integration/disintegration.

Thanks. I'm thinking of buying "Enneagram" by Helen Palmer, and one by Riso & Hudson - but which one?

 

[Bardsandwarriors]

My book hasn't arrived yet, so I've been reading and watching various things, and came across this video by Helen Palmer. After the interview, she explains in some detail how her "Vice to Virtue Conversion" works. (This isn't the explanation which she gave in the interview, but an addendum to it, which is missing from the transcript). So for anyone who wishes they could learn from her in person, this is a little pile of gold dust.

Helen Palmer ‘The Enneagram – Gateway To Spiritual Liberation’ Interview by Iain McNay - YouTube